


A Meeting for the Future

by Melody55



Series: A New Year [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23614717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melody55/pseuds/Melody55
Summary: After Rose is arrested for starting the Darkest Day, Gloria has her hands full with bringing on a new Chairman, creating new rules and trying to find two more Gym Leaders when Melony and Kabu decide to step down. What happens when an old friend of Leon and Sonia's is brought up?
Series: A New Year [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827883
Kudos: 10





	A Meeting for the Future

It had been over a month since I had beat Marnie and Hop during the Semi-finals, only to move on and beat Bede, Nessa, Bea, and Raihan during the finals, and finally, Leon himself. It had been over a month since Chairman Rose released Eternatus, and over a month since the Weird Brothers stole the wishing stars and made Zamazenta go crazy. It had been over a month and I still wasn’t used to people calling me the Champion. The only things I could get used to were the new roles that Marnie, Bede, and Hop had taken up. Somehow, it just made sense that the dedicated and caring curly blonde would become the next Fairy Gym Leader and that the cool-headed goth girl would become the Dark Gym Leader. It even made sense that Hop, my purple-haired best friend, would become Sonia’s Lab Assistant, working his way to become a great Pokémon Professor. But me? How in the world did I become the Champion? Why was I the one chosen to protect all of Galar and make the big decisions? Why was I chosen to lead the meeting?

No matter what the answer was, it was clear that I had a duty, one that I wanted so badly to push off onto the previous Champion. Lucky for me, he chose to join the Leader’s Meeting. All eyes were on me as I sat at one head of the table, the ten Gym leaders on either side of the table, and Leon at the other head. Bede stood behind Opal, as did Marnie to Piers, and Sonia and Hop sat on the side, waiting for me. 

“So, Champ,” Leon grinned, “What’s the business for today?”

Placing my hands in front of me on the table, I looked up at the purple-haired man. “Well- as you all know, Rose left Galar in chaos when he released Eternatus. Luckily, with all of your help, we’ve been able to keep things under control, even after the whole Sheilbert and Swordward incident. However-“ I paused, looking to Leon for any support. The only thing he could do was nod. ‘ _You have to manage this by yourself’_ he had told me before the meeting, ‘ _I’ll be there, but you’ll be the one running it_.’ “However, there still remains the issue of the Challenge itself. There were a lot of trainers that were injured during their trials, as well as many citizens during the Darkest Day. Obviously, I don’t plan on shutting the challenges down completely, but there have to be stricter guidelines to who gets our Letters of Recommendation.”

“A-and who- who will oversee all of these new safety measures?” Alister’s meek voice spoke.

With a weak smile, I sighed and looked toward him and the others. “Since we don’t have a Chairman anymore, the responsibilities are handed to me.” It was such a simple statement, but it held so much weight.

“No,” Bede spoke up. He cleared his throat as Opal shot him a glare. “My apologies, Champion, but I believe you have too much on your plate already.”

“Thank you for your concern, Bede, but I think- I have to, it’s the only choice,” I gave him a nod, breathing deeply to easy my beating heart. 

“No, he’s right,” Marnie chimed in. “Gloria, I know that you’re powerful and can handle everything, including two legendary Pokemon, but taking in a Chairman’s work would be overkill for you. You would run yourself into the ground.”

“Agreed,” Milo spoke. “You’re mighty strong, but it would be too much.”

“So what do you all suggest?” I looked around at the familiar faces, each one seeming to agree with how it would be too much for me. 

“Well, isn’t it easy?” Hop’s voice turned my attention. “We just have to find a new Chairman.”

“But would it be the best idea? I mean, right after the previous one tried to end the world and all?” Raihan chuckled.

He brought up a good point. “Well, we just have to find someone everyone already trusts,” Nessa answered.

Someone people already trusted? My eyes traveled down to my notes and my hand rose to my chin, my brows furrowing in thought. Who would the people trust enough to be their Chairman? The only people I had seen that the people trusted the most were the Gym Leaders, the Chairman, Professor Magnolia, and the Champion. My eyes shot up to meet Leon’s, his caramel orbs curious as they scanned around the room. ‘So much for him not doing anything in the meeting,’ I laughed to myself, causing a smile to spread across my lips. “Leon,” I simply said. His eyes darted to mine and I smirked. “Everyone already loves and trusts you, and I’m pretty sure you would be going crazy without something to do, right?”

“Uh- you’re not wrong about that,” Leon scratched the back of his head. 

“All for Leon becoming the new Chairman,” Raihan grinned with a laugh, raising his hand. One by one, the remaining Gym Leaders, as well as Sonia, Marnie, and Bede, all raised their hands, making Leon blush. “Looks like we got ourselves a new Chairman. Congrats, Chairman Leon. Oh god, I’m gonna have to get used to that,” the dragon leader shook his head, making some of us laugh. 

“So what do you say, Leon?” I spoke. With a sigh and a smile, he nodded. “Great, so now onto the next order of business,” I leaned toward the table, my eyes going to Piers, then to Opal. “We have two leaders that will be retiring come next season-“

“It’s not just them,” a soft motherly voice spoke, her head hanging down before they dared to look at anyone else. “I think it’s time for me to retire as well.” The Ice leader looked at the Rock leader, her hand cradling his cheek with a sigh, “I want to officially give you the Circhester Gym, Gordie.” There were a few gasps, but none seemed more surprised than Melony’s own son.

“Mom, think about this,” Gordie offered her a sad look. “You love battling.”

“And I would still be able to if I wasn’t a Gym Leader, but I’m too old to do battle after battle. Besides, your brother just had his first baby and I want to relax as a grandma,” she chuckled, pinching his cheeks.

“But Ma-“ he rubbed his cheek as she pulled away. There was a pause while he sighed and looked down at his papers. “I was actually- um, I was hoping I could travel for a year and get more rock pokemon. I was hoping to take next year off.” Melony’s face seemed to fall as she stared at her son.

“While we’re making announcements,” a stern voice chimed in, his chair sliding back as he stood. “I’ve decided to retire as well.” My jaw dropped at the Fire Leader’s announcement. “Fighting those Gigantamax pokemon during the Sheilbert and Swordward incident made me realize that, as much as I train, my age still weakens me.”

“Oh please, Kabu,” Opal chuckled. “I’m in my 80’s and you’re in your early 60’s.”

“I still think that it’s a good time for me to step down.” He argued.

“Kabu, are you sure?” I had to ask. “And you two too?” my eyes traveled to the Rock and Ice Leaders. “That would leave two gyms in need of leaders. Do any of you have ideas of who can take your place?”

“Well, as I said, I plan on only being gone for a year,” Gordie began. “I’m not giving up my Rock Leader position for good.”

“And I may have someone in mind,” Melony spoke. “That is if she’s not too busy.”

“Who?” I wondered. 

“Oh, she’s this wonderful girl that I met years ago. She was strong and smart,” Melony began smiling, “Now that I think of it, she actually traveled with Leon, Sonia, and Raihan, I believe.” 

I could visibly see Raihan's eyes widen as he shook his head. “Nope, not going to happen,” he tried to argue. 

Unfortunately, his words fell upon deaf ears. “Oh yes, she was a fiery one,” Kabu grinned. “I think she would make a fine Fire Leader.”

“Kabu,” Melony complained.

“No way-,” Raihan tried to speak up once more, but again, he was cut off. 

“Oh that would be so nice to see her again,” Sonia giggled. “I miss her.”

“Are you guys talking about Allie?” Hop questioned. When Sonia nodded, he grinned wider than I had ever seen. “That’s amazing. Hasn’t she been traveling this whole time?”

“Yeah, she left after Leon became champion, remember?” Sonia clasped her hands together. 

“Allie? Who’s Allie?” I found myself asking out loud.

“She’s one of our good friends that we met during our trials,” Bea answered. 

“But for some reason, she left right after Leon became Champion,” Milo chimed in.

“But it doesn’t matter because she won’t come,” Raihan growled, slamming his hands down on the table. 

“There’s no harm in asking,” Leon’s voice boomed, silencing his friend. I watched as Raihan grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. “Look, I’ll message her tonight to ask, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” he cautioned Kabu and Melony. “I urge both of you to choose someone else just in case.”

Kabu nodded, stroking his chin, “I believe I do have others that I can contact since none of my gym trainers want to take over. I will contact them and give you their answers by the end of the week.” His eyes shifted from me to Leon, both of us nodding.

Luckily, the rest of the meeting ran smoother when talking about new requirements for the challenge and repairs that still needed to be done. Still, as much as I tried to concentrate, I couldn’t help but wonder who Allie was. I had moved to Wedgehurst just a week after Leon started on his journey, so I knew I would have never met her. Still, why hadn’t I heard of her till now? Apparently she was close with Sonia, Leon, and Hop, so why didn’t they talk about her? And why was Raihan so hell-bent on not wanting her to come? Did he hate her? 

Soon enough the meeting was over and the gym leaders all started to leave one by one. I noticed the teasing smile Opal gave me when Bede challenged me to another battle, making my cheeks heat up, and I noticed the glare Piers gave Hop as the rockstar left with his sister. Within 10 minutes, the room had cleared, save for Leon, Sonia, Hop, and Raihan. 

“So what’s up with this Allie?” I asked as Hop walked up to me.

“Allie? Oh right, she was a challenger along with Leon, Sonia and Raihan. The four of them actually traveled together and were really close.”

“So why does Raihan seem to not want her here? Did they leave on a bad note or something?” 

Hop’s smile dropped as he shook his head. “Not really, I mean, no one really knows. One day, she’s going against Leon in the Semi-finals, the next she’s on a boat to Johto.” 

“So she’s as good as Leon?” he nodded. “And why haven’t I heard about her till now?”

He shrugged and we both looked over to find Leon and Raihan having a heated, yet quiet argument. Sonia just stood by them, trying to calm the boys. 

“Rai, why are you getting so upset about this?” Sonia questioned.

“You know why,” he shot back with a hiss. “I haven’t talked to her in 6 years. 6 years of her not even trying to contact me.”

“But in those 6 years, how many times have you tried to reach out to her?” Leon growled. Raihan fell silent, clenching his jaw tightly. “Exactly,” Leon finished. After a moment, he sighed and clasped his friend’s shoulder. “Look, I know that you two were close, and I know that it hurt you when she left, but you have to admit that her being back wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“I don’t-“ Raihan gulped, “I don’t think I can handle it. Just- just promise me that you won’t contact her.” 

After a moment, Leon nodded. “Fine,” he sighed, “If it’ll really affect you that much, then I won’t message her.” 

After another beat, Raihan nodded. “Thank you,” was all he said before turning to leave.

They all watched as the dragon trainer vanished from behind the door. “You’re still going to contact her, aren’t you?” Sonia wondered, looking up at the purple-haired Chairman.

“It’s time to figure out what the hell happened,” Leon nodded.

“And it’s about time they reunited. They’ve both been miserable the last few years.” Teal eyes met gold, and lips quirked up into a smile. “Do you really think she’ll come back though?”

Leon nodded, “The only question is which Gym she’ll choose to take over,” he grinned.   



End file.
